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| Weiss coat of arms Illustrated by Louis Schoenhaupt, 1883 |
To navigate the website, either use the Search function on the right, or choose an individual from the Person Index below it. There are links on the individual pages to the known direct relatives of those people.
The Weiss family is one of the oldest local Mulhousien families, which according to reliable records, was already found in Mulhouse by 1350. It was originally known by the name of Wislin, a variation of the word weasel (wieselin), the animal found on the family coat of arms. The name evolved from Wislin to Wyss and then finally to Weiss. In March 2018 I overhauled the naming of the earlier Weiss family members on this website to reflect the spelling of names used by Ernest Meininger (1852-1925), an historian whose meticulous notes on the genealogy of prominent Mulhouse families are held by the Archives Municipales de Mulhouse. I believe this is a more accurate representation of how the names were spelled (or spoken) in the times those people were alive.
Many of the names in this website are interchangably German or French - Mulhouse has been independent, German and French over the years, and so literature about the city is published in either language, though as a general rule earlier records are in German and later records in French. There are even vital records for Mulhouse which are written in French, but the witnesses sign in their German names. It can be quite confusing!
I am descended from the Weiss family of Mulhouse. I am Australian (descended from Frederick Adam Weiss), though for four years I lived in Germany, about an hour's drive from Mulhouse, France. During this time I took the opportunity to explore the city of my ancestors and visit the archives to research from original documents.
I hope you find the information contained here useful and helpful.
Prue Scott
